Copac Trustee Candidates Responses

1. My educational background includes: Bachelor of Arts, Teaching Professional Year and a Masters
in Educational Administration and Curriculum Design. This academic training has provided me
with skill sets that are specific to education. Also, my teaching assignments include
Elementary, French Immersion, Secondary as well as Alternative Education. This front line
experience as well as my academic training will provide me with true insight and perspective in
dealing with policies and challenges that trustees will need to face on an ongoing basis. My
other qualities include dedication, listening, leadership and the ability to search for and to find
common ground relating to contentious issues. As a former recipient of the Teacher of the Year
Award, the main descriptors expressed by parents and students was my open door policy and
my ability to make all of the educational stakeholders in the school community feel both
welcome and listened to.

2. As all of us know, strong competency in reading/literacy is the key foundation and pathway to
our students success in all of the other educational subjects. Having said this, our District has
put forth initiatives to bring additional resources and personnel to help struggling students. In
early primary, students are given a battery of screener tests, administered by their teachers, to
identify potential academic deficits. Throughout our elementary schools, before school
programs such as Read Naturally are delivered for selected students. I would definitely expand
these types of programs and lobby for necessary funding to facilitate this.

3. In answering this question, I need to give some fiscal background. As a province we rank near
the bottom in terms of per student funding, this is further exacerbated by a funding formula
that uses 0.6% as an inflation factor when true inflation is running at 1.7%.( This according to the
Conference Board of Canada Report, April 2014) The consequences of this are evident, that if we
do not fund to the real inflation rate, we are in deficit right at the outset. As a trustee, I would
as other boards have done in our province, advocate for correcting the above formula. I
believe we need to be fiscally prudent, but we also need to be fiscally fair as well. However, as
to addressing some of the shortfalls in house, I would enlarge the International Students
program that is presently offered in our district. Last year the program generated approximately
2.5 million dollars to our district coffers. Some districts such as Victoria have expanded it to the
level in which a sizeable portion of district revenue is generated by this type of program. The
proceeds from an expanded International Student Program could go to help with enhancement
of funding for integral programs such as literacy.

4. Public education needs to be strong and viable; it is after all a cornerstone for society because it
provides equal access to all. I do not want to see a further erosion of our public institution. I
remain optimistic about the future of public education. The vast majority of British Columbians
send their children to our schools. We need to be responsive to the 21st century learner who
needs to be innovative, a critical thinker, collaborative and well versed in media technology.
 To this end, I support the initiatives that our district has instituted that assist our students in
having the above mentioned skill sets. We also need to expand our vocational, trades and
technical educational options for students. I would like to see the continuation and
strengthening of partnerships such as those instituted by local industries such as Flightcraft
where training can lead to meaningful employment within the partnership industries. These
types of programs will make the public option second to none.

5. Our province has built in Career and Personal Planning courses in our curriculum for many years
at the elementary level. It teaches students about goal setting both short and long term. Also
the program reviews the honing of the types of qualities that will make students more apt to
succeed. I would definitely support a more comprehensive Career Program at the grade 6 level.

6. As an educator, I know that some students are coming to our classrooms with emotional issues.
I placed the utmost emphasis in communicating my concerns with our school councillors in
concert with the parents. The earlier the intervention, the greater chances that the child will be
successfully helped. A proposed initiative in our district will potentially have mental health
specialists housed in a central location. This framework should lead to a streamlined approach in
which specialists will communicate and discuss the client in a confidential and well-coordinated
manner. I would fully endorse and support this pilot project initiative.

7. As an educator and a parent of children that were enrolled in such programs, this is an issue that
needs to have greater emphasis and support within our schools. Our district does provide some
funding for enrichment however, the time allotments due to budgetary constraints are small.